Environmental perception can be a challenge for electronic devices that use electronic sensors to perceive a surrounding environment. For example, electronic devices such as robots and vehicles may use one or more sensors to perceive aspects within the surrounding environment that are within a field of view of the sensor(s) so that the electronic devices can determine a location within the environment and map objects and obstacles. In this way, the devices can determine paths through the environment when autonomously navigating and/or provide assistance to an operator in order to avoid obstacles. For example, detection of objects within a roadway such as tire debris, small obstacles (e.g., rocks, sticks, etc.), and other objects that are relatively small in comparison to, for example, a vehicle can represent potential hazards to the vehicle that should be detected to provide for safe operation of the vehicle.
However, sensors such as light/laser detection and ranging (LiDAR/LaDAR) sensors can encounter difficulties with detecting relatively small objects. This is because these small objects may generate few return signals for the sensors to detect when scanned. As such, the sensors may perceive the smaller objects at a lower resolution because of acquiring few data points about the objects. Thus, object detection routines that analyze the generated data may miss or otherwise discard the data points associated with the objects as noise because of the lack of resolution. Accordingly, the sensors can fail to detect the objects, and the sensing systems may then not assist a driver/operator in relation to avoiding such obstacles.